Pivoting corner post construction



Sept. 27, 1960 s. J. REPAICH PIVOTING CORNER POST CONSTRUCTION Filed July 11, 1958 INVENTOR.

Attorneys United? rates PatentQfiECe Patented Sept. 27, 1960 PIVOTING CORNER POST CONSTRUCTION- SteveL-Repaich, 2735 Clyde Ave, Los Angeles, Calif. Filed July 11, 1958, Ser. No. 748,015

Claims. (Cl. 155-179) This invention has to do with upholstered furniture. and particularly with the construction of ,seats and backs for chairs, sofas and the like.

In conventional upholstered spring. seat construction coil springs are mounted on a supporting webbing, frame, or other means within the area bounded'by. the seat frame with the springs extending considerably above the upper edge of the frame and beingti'ed together by wire or the like. A wire border or edge frame member 1 extends around the perimeter of the springsatithe level. of the tops of the springs, being secured to the outermost springs.

With the type of construction heretofore commonly used, it is extremely diificult to secure uniformity'of'. product, particularly with sectional-type pieces embodying two, freestanding front corners. Consequently,.in. making up sectional sofas, it. is necessary to. verycarefully match the pieces in order to have uniform. height.

otj the seats at the corners, as otherwise the sofaswould not be merchantable.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel corner; post construction for upholstered seats or backs of the type embodying conventional springs andanuppenborder: or edge, wire which provides an inherent means'atflthe: corner of the seat (for back). for controlling theheight. of the seat, thereby making for uniformity of construction. 7

Another object is to provide. a. novel cornerrpostfor incorporation into an upholstered seat which isadapted; to. be tiltably mounted. on the seat frame. in a manner. to allow the upholstery material to move withthejsprings when the seat is occupied.

A further object is to provide a novel corner/postv which can be readily secured relatively loosely totheseat frame by a single nail whichembodiesmeans at...its

upper end for readily attaching the. same to. thewirestery has been broken away at several places toiexpose the interior construction whichembodiesthe invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred form'of: post of the invention shown mounted at the corner ofa. seat frame and joined to the wireframe-which extends around the perimeter'of the coil springs;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view on line 3 -3 013 Fig. 2;.

Fig.4 is a' perspective view ofjthe;post; on a larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the corner of a seat inwhich a" novel hook member. is used in, conjunction with" the post;

Fig. 6:' is" an enlarged fragmentary sectional view-on lined-6 of'Fi'g. 5';

Fig. 7'is a, perspective view of a hook memberusedin conjunction with the construction;

Fig. 8' is afragmentary: perspective View similar to Fig. 2 showing another form of post construction; and

Fig.1 9' is a.view' similarto Fig. 8' but showing stillan other form of post construction.

More particularly des'cribing the invention, numeralll designates generally'an upholstered seat member which may be part of a sectional sofa or part of a chair; This is shown as provided with a removable seat cushion-12'."

The. upholstered seat comprises a base or seat frame; 14

whichis shown as rectangular being made up of a front rail. 15,. a side rail .16 and corresponding elements at the other two sides, not shown. The frame is shown provided. with foot portions 18 adapted to rest uporrthe floor.

Within the area bounded by the frame are a'plurality'. of'coil springs 20 of conventional type used in seat con-- struction. These are normally supported on awebbing, or other meansv attached to the bottom. or adjacent the" bottom of the seat frame. The springs extend to a height considerably above the upper edge 22,015 the seat: frame. and. are tied'ttogether to hold them in later-ally spacedLrelati0n. Around the perimeter of the area.con+' taining the springs is. a border or edgewire framernemf ber 25 to which the outer rows of springs are. secured or tied. This. construction, so far described, is conventional'. and'the. details thereofhave not. been shown for.v this reason. It is to 'be understood. that other com/en.-

tional types ofsprings may be used. in. place. of thecoil;

springs andithatthe post construction to. be describeclis also applicable to them.

Inorder to. control. the. height of the. seat at the forward corners. thereof,. 1 provide a post, designatedv gen.-

erall'y. by. numeral 28. This. extendsbetween theupper. edge..22' of the frame. and the. wire framemember 25. Ihthepa-rticular. form shown, the-post isformed of. sheet metal and comprises an.v elongated. main section: con.-= sisting. of two angularly disposed. sections 29 and 30 which are shownextending at right angles to eachother.-. If desired, thesesectionsmay be: made to extend. at a greater. or lesser. angle so as to coincide with the angle ofthe corner of the frame on whichthepost ismounted. At. its lower end, the section 29 is:formed with an in turned. tabv toform a base 32 which is normal to the generall longitudinal axis. of' the post. The base is; apertured at 33- to. receive a nail 34 which is used for loosely" securing the post tothe. corner of the frame 14: as best shown inFig. 2.

Atit upperend, the post is formed-to provide a pairofputwardly, extending cars 36 which are formedas. continuations ofthe sections. 29and 30, but being some. what narrower soasto leave a space 37- therebetween; The cars. include. a. curved. portion 38. which. extends inwardly, then. upwardly and outwardly to joinwith asflat. I outer end' portion 44% The post is secured to thezwire.

frame ZSof'the spring constructionat the. corner there.

of as best shown in.Fig's. 1 and 2, with the. wire spring...

Withth'e-constructiondescribed, itwill be apparent that the corner of the wire frame 25 is spaced above'the seat frame 14 by the height of the post thereby'making for uniform-=construction.- The post is free to tilt'in post in certain types of response to movement of the frame 25, caused by a person sitting on the seat or other weight imposed on the seat. In this connection, referring to Figs. 1 and 5, the springs are ordinarily covered with a layer of burlap or the like designated 42, and this extends over the spring and down over the wire frame 25 and is secured to or beneath the frame 14. Padding 43 is disposed over the fabric 42 and a padding roll 44 is usually provided around the margin to provide height in this region. In some cases, a row of stitching 46 is provided some distance back from the margin. Thus, it will be seen that when the fabric layers are initially applied, they may be stretched tightly and secured Without likelihood of pulling down 25, to an out-of-proper-shaped position, since the corner post serves to support the wire frame at the desired height at the corner. Also, it will be apparent, that when weight is imposed upon the seat, the post 28 is free to pivot on the nail 34 as may be required to accommodate for pulling of the fabric one way or the other.

Another feature of the invention which is particularly useful in assemblying a construction wherein the sides of the seat are exposed to view and not enclosed by an arm rest or the like, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, is the provision of a hook member 55 designed to properly locate and tightly secure the fabric upholstery at a point in the region of the seam or stitching 46 diagonally inward from the post. The hook comprises a main body 56, a hooked end 56' and a head comprising two end portions 57 which are disposed in a common plane substantially at right angles one to the other with the body portion 56 bisecting the angle. In use, the member is placed about the post as shown in Fig. 6 and hooked into the burlap fabric 42 to provide a securing means between the fabric at such point and the post thereby serving to assist in maintaining the fabric in proper position during assembly.

While I have shown the post 28 in conjunction with a seat having coil springs it should be understood that the post is equally useful in constructions embodying other types of springs surrounded by a border or edge wire and irrespective of whether the construction is the seat or the back of the article.

In Fig. 8 I show a modified type of post designated generally by 60 and comprising a relatively stiff wire member bent to form an upper portion consisting of angnlarly disposed sections 61 and 62 and legs 63 and 64. The latter are mounted in bore holes 67 and 68 in the base frame 14. The upper portion of member 60 is secured to the border or edge wire 25 of the spring con struction by wires 69 wrapped around the parts.

In Fig. 9' I show still another form of post, designated 70, consisting of a wire having a main section 71 and an upper portion 72 which has been coiled around the spring frame wire 25. The lower end of the post comprises a foot or base section 74 extending normal to the main section. This may terminate in a toe 75. The base is secured to the base frame 14 by staples 76.

It will be apparent that the wire-type posts or supports shown in Figs. 8 and 9 also serve to support the edge or border wire frame 25 of the spring assembly and yet permit some lateral shifting thereof under loading of the seat in the manner previously described in connection with the form of post shown in Figs. 1 to 6.

While I have shown and described preferred forms of my invention I contemplate that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims I which follow. By way of example, the post means shown in Fig. 8 may be formed at its lower ends with foot portions to be attached to the base in a manner similar to the form shown in Fig. 9, or the latter may have a straight lower end for reception in a bore hole in the frame.

Iclaim:

1. In an upholstered spring construction, a frame defining an open, spring-receiving area therewithin, said frame having a corner portion, a group of springs in said area extending beyond the plane of an edge of said frame, support means for said springs carried by said frame, a border wire frame member extending around the perimeter of the group of springs in a plane spaced beyond the plane of said edge of said frame, means securing the outermost springs of the group to said wire frame member, a post mounted on said frame at the corner portion thereof and extending to said wire frame member, said Wire frame member being attached to said post, and means mounting said post on said frame to permit tilting movement of the post relative to the frame.

2. A construction as set forth in claim 1 in which said post comprises a metal body formed to provide an apertured base at one end and in which the means securing said post to said frame comprises a nail mounted in said frame and extending through said apertured base.

3. A construction as set forth in claim 1 in which said wire frame member has a corner portion disposed in registration with the corner portion of said frame and in which said post is provided with a pair of laterally extending ears at its upper end bent around the corner portion of said wire frame member.

4. In an upholstered spring seat construction, a seat frame defining an open, spring-receceiving area therewithin, said frame having a corner portion, springs in said area extending to a height above said frame, support means for said springs carried by said frame, a border wire frame member extending around the perimeter of said springs at a level with the tops thereof, means securing the outermost of said springs to said wire frame member, an upright post mounted on said frame at the corner portion thereof extending to said wire frame member, said wire frame member being attached to said post, and means mounting said post on said frame to permit tilting movement of the post relative to the frame.

5. In an upholstered spring seat construction, a seat frame defining an open spring-receiving area therewithin, said frame having a corner portion, springs in said area extending to a height above said frame, support means for said springs carried by said frame, a border wire frame member extending around the perimeter of the springs at a level with the tops thereof, means securing the outermost of said springs to said wire frame member, an upright post mounted on said frame at said corner and extending to said wire, said wire being attached to said post, means securing said post to the frame to permit tilting of the post, a fabric sheet overlying said springs and extending down around the springs and frame, inclosing the same, and a hook member connected to the upper end of said post at its outer end and being hooked into said fabric sheet at a region spaced diagonally inward from the post.

6. A construction as set forth in claim 5 in which said fabric is covered with padding and with a covering fabric over the padding.

7. A corner post comprising a body of sheet metal formed to provide an elongated main portion comprising two sections joined by a longitudinally extending bent portion, said sections being disposed at less than with respect to each other, one of said sections having an apertured extension at one end extending normal to the longitudinal axis of the post and inwardly of the section within the angle formed by said sections, each of said sections having an ear portion extending the efrom at the other end of said post, each ear portion being generally of U-shape and opening outwardly and with the base of the U disposed inwardly of the adjacent section.

2}. In an upholstered spring construction, a frame defining an open, spring-receiving area therewithin, said frame having a corner portion, a group of springs in post, and means mounting said post on said frame to 10 permit tilting movement of the post relative to the frame, said post comprising 'a length of relatively stifi wire.

9. A construction as set forth in claim 8 in which said post has a lower end portion mounted in a bore hole in said frame.

10. A construction as set forth in claim 8 in which the length of wire forming the post is bent to form an upper portion for attachment to said wire frame memher and to form a pair of laterally spaced legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,270,656 Kiesecker Ian. 20, 1952 

